Hello c:geo

You don't have to go very deep into this blog's archives to learn how I really feel about smartphone caching (here's an example). For years, I've been extremely content using my Garmin GPSmap 60CSx to do the heavy lifting, along with my iPodTouch running Geosphere pre-loaded with my pocket queries. This combination allowed me to get consistently close to GZ with the Garmin workhorse, and then, if necessary, I would refer to Geosphere for cache description and hint information, followed by using Geosphere's field note logging feature after a successful find.

This combination has worked great for me over the years and resulted in many successful geocaching outings. And none of it required the use of a cell phone. In fact, until about a month ago, I didn't even own a smartphone. But for other, non-geocaching-related reasons, such as not being able to check emails and texts when away from the home or office, I finally gave in and purchased a Motorola Android phone.

Shortly after getting the new device out of the box, my goal was to find an Android application that I could use to recreate the iPodTouch/Geoshere experience. And I think I've found it with the free geocaching app. called, "c:geo". Since I wasn't planning on giving up on my Garmin GPSr to locate caches, I just needed an Android app. that could do the following:

1. Import Pocket Queries
2. Support Offline Logging
3. Export Field Notes

And yes, of course the geocaching.com Android App. will do all of this and more; but it also costs $9.99. Did I mention that c:geo is free? Yes, I did. And it also supports all of the a fore mentioned features. The only differences I've found so far between c:geo and the gc.com app. and geosphere is that it is not quite as intuitive to use from an end-user standpoint, and the documentation can be a little tricky to follow.

That's why I plan to devote the next three blog posts to describing in some detail how to accomplish each of the above-listed tasks in c:geo to you, my faithful readers, as an early holiday gift; and as a small token of appreciation to the developers of what I think is a great Android application.

Just note that I will not be discussing how to navigate to a cache site with this software, as I prefer to leave that task to the professionals.

Cache On!